Battery Street Bike Lanes

Public Works is currently taking requests from residents for infrastructure projects for the 2019-2021. I have been approached from several people who are interested in projects that would make Little Rock a better place for bicycle and pedestrian modes of transportation but who are not familiar enough with current BikePed challenges and opportunities to make a meaningful request. It is in that spirit that I share with you this and other ideas. Unless Little Rock residents fill out aninfrastructure request formfor this idea, it will not be considered for the 2019-2021 funds. The demand for each idea is measured, in part, by the number of residents requesting an idea. Support from local organizations, businesses, and neighborhood associations can also help increase the likelihood that a project is selected for implementation. Requests are due by September 30, 2017.

Battery Street is an important bicycle connection for the Midline and for this area of Little Rock in general. The bike lanes on 12th Street end at Battery; the Midline needs to make a quality connection to 7th Street (another east-west corridor). In general, the Master Bike Plan includes east-west bike lanes on 7th St., 12th St., Daisy Bates, and Wright, but no north-south corridor connecting these (Fig. 1). To function well, a bike network needs routes regularly running east-west and north-south.

Battery Street represents an excellent opportunity to make this connection. It is at least 35 ft. wide throughout (wide enough to install a bike lane and a buffer) and has very little traffic.

If this is a project you would like to see completed, feel free to use any of the below language you would like to complete aninfrastructure request formand submit it to Public Works no later than September 30th (postal mail and email addresses can be found on the form):

1) Briefly describe the proposed project. Please include the boundaries of the project.

Battery Street Bike Lanes: The Master Bike Plan has no existing or proposed north-south connections in this area, which weakens the proposed bicycle network and decreases potential ridership. The proposed Midline requires a quality connection between 7th and 12th Streets in this area as well. Battery Street represents an excellent opportunity to address these challenges. It is at least 35 feet wide throughout and much of it is residential with low traffic counts. Narrowing the traffic lanes would help calm traffic. I would like the City of Little Rock to install buffered bike lanes on Battery Street from Daisy Bates to 7th Street. If a new Master Plan reroutes the Midline to a route that bypasses this project's location, I would like the funding requested here to go toward making BikePed improvements to support that corridor.

2) Indicate if this is a new project or a continuation of an existing project.